Providence man gets 90 days in jail after his dogs starve to death

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Providence man who abandoned three pit bulls found starved to death in his former apartment has been sentenced to 90 days in jail and prohibited from owning pets.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Providence man who abandoned three pit bulls found starved to death in his former apartment has been sentenced to 90 days in jail and prohibited from owning pets.

WLNE-TV reports that Joseph Miller pleaded guilty to three counts of animal abandonment resulting in death and was sentenced in Providence Superior Court on Monday. He also must perform 30 hours of community service.

City police arrested Miller in March of last year after they determined he was the former tenant of the apartment off Bowdoin Street where the dogs were found dead.

A necropsy on one of the dogs showed it weighed only 20 pounds, which is about 35 pounds less than what the average female pit bull weighs.

Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Miller to two years in prison.